2 Kings 6:14-17 - So he sent there horses and chariots and a great army, and they came by night and surrounded the city.
15 When
the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out,
behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. And
the servant said, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” 16 He said, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” 17 Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
Somehow in my 53 years, Elisha has never made it to my learning. The only memory I have of Elisha is from the lips of my grandmother. But, I can only recall her saying his name.
In this woodcut, we see Elijah leaving for heaven in a chariot of fire, leaving Elisha behind to take his place.
And later, in the verses above, we again are introduced to chariots of fire as one of Elisha's young servants is wetting his pants because of the massive army of chariots from Samaria that have them surrounded.
Interestingly, Elisha does not panic, but asks God to open the eyes of the young man, and behold a significantly larger army of fiery chariots, bearing angels, awaits the command of God to strike.
It isn't time to strike, so we don't see a large battle, but wait...let's consider this large army of angels sitting there!
Have you ever given consideration to such a thing? I mean, is it possible that while I am typing these very words an angel is sitting in the recliner across from my desk? Don't think me too crazy, but I just peeked around my 27' monitor to see.
No one there. As least as far as I can see.
Just because we can't see them, does that make it not so? Can a deaf man hear a Beethoven symphony? Can a blind man enjoy a beautiful sunset? Are we perhaps, in the same way, blind to these angels around us?
Some believe that we each have guardian angels. I haven't taken time to study the veracity of that claim, but God tells us that we live amongst unseen angels. If we believed that, if we awoke each day with that belief, would be behave differently, knowing that we are in their presence, and being watched?
Christian evangelicals believe that every single word in the Bible is actual narrative, and not merely nice stories. Are you in this camp?
I am, at least I say it with my lips. But my daily behavior doesn't consistently display that. I going to continue working on that.
